Oedipus and the Sphinx. François-Xavier Fabre (1808). Sphinx of Thebes: the man-eating "Femme Fatale" Head and chest of a woman, body of a lion and wings of a bird – the sphinx is a being between two worlds. In this way, the Greek sphinx is a protector of the tombs and sacred spaces of the gods. The Sphinx was a terrible creature that, according to Greek mythology, lived on the outskirts of Thebes, a city in ancient Greece. Legend has it that the Sphinx placed a life or death riddle for travelers at the gates of Thebes. Thebes was being ravaged by a mysterious scourge. The city was under siege by the Sphinx, who demanded that the inhabitants solve a riddle to escape their terrible fate. The riddle that the Sphinx proposed was the following: "What is the being that has four feet in the morning, two feet at noon and three feet at night?" No one in Thebes could answer the Sphinx's riddle, and those who failed were killed by the monster. The city was in despair until the hero Oedipus arrived in Thebes. Oedipus solved the Sphinx's riddle and answered: "The human being." The riddle represented the stages of human life, with "four feet in the morning" symbolizing infancy (when children crawl), "two feet at noon" symbolizing adulthood (when people walk upright), and "three feet in the evening" symbolizing old age (when people use a cane). After the correct answer, the Sphinx became furious and, unable to bear her defeat, threw herself off a cliff (she's so dramatic lol👀), putting an end to her reign of terror over Thebes.🖤💀